Cash donations are the fastest, most efficient way to get help to people living in a disaster zone. They allow relief agencies to purchase quickly supplies based on the specific needs of the affected population.

Cash donations allow relief agencies to purchase goods and services in the affected country or neighbouring areas. Your financial contribution, in other words, is helping to 1) get aid to affected populations as quickly as possible, and 2) regenerate the local economy, which may have been seriously affected by the disaster.

In most cases, it is more cost-effective to purchase goods locally than to airlift supplies from far away, as fuel and aircraft costs can be very high. In addition, local goods can be purchased in much less time than it takes to organize the logistics of an airlift from a distant country.

Culturally familiar goods can respond to humanitarian needs, as well as provide a small sense of comfort or normalcy to traumatized and displaced populations, which foreign, unfamiliar goods may not.

The following is a list of reputable aid organizations currently seeking cash donations for relief efforts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Donations can be made at the web pages or by calling theappropriate phone numbers.

Salvation Army (www.salvationarmy.ca)1-800-725-2769Rogers Wireless and Bell Mobility customers can make $5 donations by texting "Haiti" to 45678.Donations can be mailed to Army Territorial Headquarters, Canada and Bermuda, 2 Overlea Blvd., Toronto, Ontario M4H 1P4.Donations can also be dropped off at local Salvation Army units. Specify "Haiti Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund"